There Should Be a Manual For This…

Until recently, I had never used a mechanic. My husband always worked on our cars or we knew someone who could help us out. We’ve kept up with regular maintenance on our vehicles, but we’ve never needed a mechanic to tackle an actual repair.

I knew someday, the need for a mechanic would rear its ugly head, but I put that crazy thought out of my mind and never spent another minute thinking about it. Until I had to. And last week, I had to.

I have a 2011 Highlander. I bought it used, with 220K miles on it. Silly…I know. But I paid cash for it and I bought it for my day job. I work in construction and I needed a reliable car to get me to work, drive around a job site and get me back home. That’s it. And this was the perfect car. Until the dash lights started coming on one by one.

When we bought the car, the steering seemed a little loose, but I assumed that’s what you get when you buy a car with that many miles on it. It drove fine otherwise, so why spend money when you don’t need to?

But alas, the day finally arrived when the car was shouting loudly that it needed some TLC. I finally had to admit that I needed a mechanic. So the search began. I searched the internet, read the reviews and finally settled on someone. Call me a nervous Nelly, but dealing with a mechanic is definitely outside my wheelhouse. I’m not a car guru and trusting someone I don’t know is not something I’m familiar with.

But a girl’s gotta do, what a girl’s gotta do. I put on my big girl panties, made an appointment and delivered my car with the confidence of a cat in a room full of dogs. Bye bye, little car, bye bye. Ok, it really wasn’t that dramatic, but you get my point.

The damage? $2800 worth of work. Apparently, my front and rear shocks, coil/spring assembly and sway bar links had seen better days. It appears I was riding high on my springs. And when I say riding high, I mean riding high in spirit because my car looks like it got a major lift after the work was completed.

So what life lessons can I possibly bestow upon you other than good luck? Below are some recommendations from a novice mechanic finder..er.

1. Look for a mechanic before you need a mechanic. Take your car in for routine maintenance and ask for an itemized estimate before authorizing any work. Have the mechanic explain what’s necessary now, what can wait and what should be monitored. This is especially important, if like me, you’re not particularly knowledgeable about cars.
2. Don’t be afraid to buy a used car, especially if you don’t have a monthly payment or a lower monthly payment, but try to save some extra money for repairs, because you’ll probably need it.
3. Sometimes, a car isn’t worth fixing. I decided that even though this car already has over 200k miles, it’s still in really good shape and we expect to get at least 450k out of it. Toyota’s are the best (my opinion of course)!!
4. Be cautious about mechanics who require full payment upfront. There are legitimate reasons a shop might request a deposit, particularly for specialty parts or items with restocking fees. However, paying the full amount before the work is completed can leave you with limited recourse if something goes wrong.
   1. Mechanics have multiple ways to collect from you, so just be careful when working with a mechanic, especially someone you don’t know. And that’s why Number 1 on this list is to look for a mechanic before you need a mechanic.
5. New and used cars are very expensive right now and the interest rates are ridiculous. But sometimes, a new car with a set monthly payment works better than an old car with continuous repairs. I’ll never judge anyone for the choices they have to make.
6. With all of the online options to set up monthly payments directly through websites, if you need a repair and need to make payments, look for mechanics that offer those options. But before agreeing to financing, read the terms carefully and be sure to check the interest rates, fees and the total amount you’ll pay with all fees included.

I hope this information is helpful, but if there is something I missed, let me know. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m learning as I go, and apparently, finding a mechanic is another one of those adulting experiences nobody bothered to prepare me for.